According to The Encyclopedia of Hollywood, Lumet is one of the most prolific directors of the modern era making more than one movie per year on average since his directorial debut in 1957.

He is especially noted for his ability to draw major actors to his projects. “Because of his visual economy, strong direction of actors, vigorous storytelling and use of the camera to accent themes,” states Turner Classic Movies.

“Lumet produced a body of work that could only be defined as extraordinary.”

“All great work is preparing yourself for the accident to happen.”

One of his steady themes during his career has been the “fragility of justice and the police and their corruption,” according to Thomson’s Biographical Dictionary of Film.

He can deliver “powerhouse performances from lead actors,” and fine work from character actors and is today one of the foremost figures of New York moviemaking.

His sensitivity to actors and to the rhythms of the city have made him “America’s longest-lived descendant of the 1950s Neorealist tradition and its urgent commitment to ethical responsibility.”

Lumet began as an off-Broadway director, then became a highly efficient TV director. His first movie was typical of his best work: a well-acted, tightly written, deeply considered “problem picture,” 12 Angry Men (1957).

Since then, Lumet has divided his energies among other idealistic problem pictures along with literate adaptations of plays and novels, big stylish pictures, and New York-based black comedies.

As a result of directing 12 Angry Men, he is also responsible for leading the first wave of directors who made a successful transition from TV to movies.

For being one of the most reliable and dependable directors of the last half-century, in 2005 he received an Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement for his “brilliant services to screenwriters, performers, and the art of the motion picture.”—Wikipedia

Selected filmography

 1.  SERPICO (1973)
 2.  NETWORK (1976)
 3.  THE VERDICT (1982)
 4.  12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
 5.  THE PAWNBROKER (1964)
 6.  LONG DAY’S JOURNEY INTO NIGHT (1962)
 7.  EQUUS (1977)
 8.  PRINCE OF THE CITY (1981)
 9.  RUNNING ON EMPTY (1988)
 10. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (1974)
 11. THE ANDERSON TAPES (1971)
 12. DOG DAY AFTERNOON (1975)
 13. Q & A (1990)
 14. FAIL SAFE (1964)
 15. DEATHTRAP (1982)